“OUR sovereignty is not up for discussion.”

No, this isn’t the burning issue about Britain’s involvement in Europe but a far more pressing concern – to some at least.

The issue is whether Christchurch will “merge” with East Dorset and North Dorset district councils.

Under a new programme known as Pathfinder, Dorset County Council has worked with district council bosses to create plans to share certain services, including revenues and benefits and waste collection, which would be maintained by a joint management team and officer structure.

But the plans, which have not been approved by individual councils yet, have sparked fears of a complete “merger.”

Rollo Reid, the prospective UKIP candidate for Christchurch, has written a letter to the chief executive of Christchurch council, Michael Turvey, expressing his concerns.

In it, he talks about the type of merger Christchurch may have to take part in with either Dorset County Council to become a unitary authority, or Bournemouth or possibly with New Forest District Council.

He said: “Whatever is decided, it must be debated publicly; and for this debate to have any meaning, we need to know all the options, all the pros and cons.”

But the leader of Christchurch council, Cllr Alan Griffiths, has rejected these fears.

Cllr Griffiths said: “There is no merger planned. What we are talking about is reducing costs by sharing officers at a senior level, which will release a large amount of money in an increasingly difficult time.

“What we want is local councils working together to effectively deliver services to local people.

“We propose to debate the issue at full council and in public at the council on December 1 and I would be happy to talk to anybody about this or any other issues concerning the project.”

Cllr Griffiths also vowed to protect frontline services and said that unless there was agreement from each individual council, the sharing of services could not go ahead.

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